COMESA develops blueprint to maximize benefits from natural resources

Africa's largest trading bloc said on Wednesday that it has developed a detailed action plan aimed at getting maximum benefits from abundant natural resources the region was endowed with.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) said it has developed a detailed action plan which focuses on four critical areas that will see member states get maximum benefits from natural resources such as minerals and petroleum, according to a press release emailed to Xinhua.

According to the press release, the action plan focuses on taxation and financial frameworks, mineral beneficiation and linkages, human and institutional capacity development and a harmonized mineral sector policy framework.

The development of the action plan comes in the backdrop of reports that Africa was not getting maximum benefits from its natural resources, with reports indicating that the continent is losing millions of funds in illicit flows especially from its natural resources.

Sindiso Ngwenya, the organization's secretary-general said the regional bloc has also begun a value chain analysis to profile opportunities for deepening the developmental role of the sector through mineral clusters and growth poles.

According to him, member states lack human and institutional capacity in the management of natural resources, a move that has led to high levels of illicit financial flows from the natural resources through transfer pricing.

According to figures, Africa loses an estimated 50 billion U.S. dollars due to illicit financial flows. Endi